The Truth Lies Within
by VenusRose252
Summary: Maybe ignorance was the best way to put the mind at ease...but then again, it never turns out to be the right thing to do. Rated M just to be on the safe side. For all FNC, FF13, FF13-2 and FFVs13 fans.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome

Pre A/N: This story is made up of theories I made on FFVs13, mixed with fantasies of my own. This is how I envision and interpret FNC itself, with FF13 and Vs13. Hope you guys like it :P. And now, without further ado, here's the 1st chapter. Enjoy~

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**The Truth Lies Within**

Chapter 1: Welcome

_"Existence defined itself in two worlds: The Visible World of the Living and the Invisible World of the Dead, with the goddess Mwynn maintaining the balance between them for peace and tranquility to prosper. Both worlds were young and untouched. Mwynn had only one child, a son named Bhunivelze. Once his young body grew strong, groomed with his mother's love and affection and the powers he inherited from her, he defeated her, and thus took control over the mortal haven. He exiled her to the Unseen World, but he soon found reasons to believe that, before her ascend, she placed a curse on the living world that everything in it, even the seen world itself, is bound to be destroyed….including him._

_He fell in the deepest abyss of infernal anguish over the fear of losing his life. He sought to destroy her from the Seen World once and for all to rid himself of the her curse and regain his immortality. But he cannot reach the Invisible World without giving up control over the Living. So to find the gate between both worlds, he created Pulse to search for the gate in the entire Living World. To assist him in his task, Bhunivelze created his sister Etro, but when he realized that he unintentionally crafted her in the likeness of his mother, he began to fear her and so gave her no power. To take her place, he created Lindzei and gave him the task to protect him and the world itself. He then went into a deep crystal slumber only to be awakened by Lindzei when they've found the gate. The mindlessly obedient gods set to work._

_Etro, distressed over her lack of power and purpose, killed herself in despair by cutting her body. Through this action, without even realizing it, she entered Valhalla. What's more that was unknown to her was that humans were created, from her unintentional sacrifice, who lived only to die. She was saddened over their inevitable fate and became slightly fond of them because like them, she too was destined to die._

_Upon her arrival at Valhalla, there she found Mwynn almost consumed by overflowing chaos. With her dying powers, she tasked Etro to protect the balance of the two worlds, for if she failed, the Universe would collapse, the destruction of the world being a fated fact and not a curse. Her son's goal of immortality had caused such disruption. The new goddess did not understand her duties first hand. She became lonely again. Time came when she finally understood the meaning behind the worlds of her predecessor, and conceived a plan to keep the overflowing chaos at bay. She placed a piece of chaos inside each human for them to hold, and they came to call it 'heart' and it was their greatest strength without them even realizing it. Though she opened the gate only in the time of need to make sure it was undetected, when humans died and passed over Valhalla, she greeted them, upon their arrival at the gate, with tears and songs of lament._

_So long as people kept being born and dying, the balance was maintained. Meanwhile, Pulse crafted the world as he found fit while Lindzei created his own haven called Cocoon from debris of a land called Grand Pulse, a name the native mortals fashioned from their deity Pulse, and protected the seen world. As for humans, they worshipped Pulse as their Creator, Lindzei as their Protector and Etro as the goddess of death. With only limited knowledge of the ether-world, humans have many contradictory views on her. Some thought her to be a compassionate and powerless goddess, while others portray her as the cruel reincarnation of death._

_Bhunivelze remained in slumber for millenniums to come, his existence forever unknown to humans. Blind to mortal eyes, Pulse and Lindzei continued their true biddings. For eons after eons, Lindzei had been harvesting as many souls he could acquire to trigger the gate to open before their eyes, while Pulse rummaged earth and created more realms, dimensions and lands to find the gate. To aid them further in finding the gate and it's key, they created lesser Fal'Cei who, to help themselves, turned humans to L'Cei, mere humans with granted powers, bound to a focus. Etro sometimes sent them her holy messengers in times of their hardship, as she pitied them for being fated to either remaining a crystal for all eternity, or to lose insanity in becoming mindless L'Ceith. Humans knew their gods, Pulse and Lendzei, created those Fal'Cei, but they never knew their purpose behind it. Eons rolled by with no trace of the gate, until one day, Pulse and Lindzei just…..disappeared."_

As was carved on the crystalline oracle-tablet, it's transparent hue almost rendering the foreign words unreadable, if not invisible. The oracle-tablet was held up by a marble table, small but tall enough to reach a man's waist. It tells of the legend of the Universe: The Fabula Nova Crystallis. The rigidity of the crystal and the isolated location of this particular oracle helped it to preserve the message it bore. But in other realms with different timeline, the words , written in scriptures or on stones, were long gone, eroded away due to those inferior objects falling victim to natural circumstances. This caused humans residing in different realms to interpret the legend differently, some of them knowing about only Pulse and Lindzei and some only acknowledged the name of Etro. But that was all any human could ever come to know. Was it all real, or was it just another myth? Only the immortals know. But one thing was certain- there was more to the story than what meets the eye. It was not complete…..and probably never will go anywhere near completion.

This particular crystalline oracle-tablet happens to be securely concealed within the walls of an extremely colossal hall, impenetrable by those who would dare to trespass against the will of the Divine. The room seemed to be laid dormant due to lack of full-illumination. Far beyond the marble table was a small flight of steps leading to a singularly gigantic and magnificent statue at the end of the hall. The statue was that of a male, his head almost touching the ceiling. The masculine figure was heavily clothed and armored leaving only the tip of his nose to his upper neck visible. The imperial form had his head held high and had his chest heaved in divine pride, his fingers were intertwined and the junctions of the crossed fingers stabbed down a sword to the heart of the concrete ground. The uniquely designed sword had inscription embedded on them that reads to a foreign language not known to human knowledge for it was never intended for them. Without a doubt, it's whereabouts are concealed for a reason...

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PostA/N: First off, I want to be clear that this crystal is not 'the crystal'. This crystal has no powers and is just like crystal like we have in real world. But it's really strong and doesn't weather. Well, that takes care of that. Now, I know it was really short and the FNC was pretty much known to you guys, but this is only the prologue. I still hope you liked and please review and let me know about what you thought about it. For the moment, I don't have a clue to where this leads, but if you DO like it, I'd be MORE than happy to try to keep you guys at the edge of your seats. Feedbacks highly appreciated.

Until next time~


	2. Chapter 2: The Whispers of Dreams

Pre A/N: Thanks to all of those who read and liked the 1st chapter of TTLW, specially **Rain** **Nightwalker** and all the guests for the reviews. Today's chapter might sound a little offensive. So no hard feelings to any FNC fans out there. But you might end up happy if you choose to persist, I'll give you that ;) Okay, I've kept you waiting long enough. Enjoy~

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Chapter 2: The Whispers of Dreams

_Pieces of small, insignificant; yet bright and spiritually alluring crystals descended upon the lush greenland floor of this heavenly garden, much like leaves during the falls. They glided down through the wind and just before they could crash down on the ground, they shattered into millions of fireflies. The way they played with the breeze jingled a reassuring sound accompanied by the sound of waterfall from a distant, ever-flowing ether-lake. Everything seemed perfect._

_A small boy, with glaring white hair, lay sound asleep in the lap of a woman with the same white hair. She gazed down upon him with soft, compassionate eyes and ran her delicate fingers through his hair and ruffled it, tucking a few stands behind his ear and cupping his cheek with her hand. She leaned down and snuggled her face against his small one and spread her long, flowing silver gown over him and tuck him in as if protecting him against the cold on a hot sunny day under the scorching sun. The boy shifted slightly and frowned in uneasiness. She smiled at this, kissed him on the forehead and moved her lips to his ears as she whispered, "Foolish little boy…." She trailed off before her smile disappeared and her facial expressions changed to that of a sad one as she whispered once again, this time in melancholy, "Why can't things be the way they were before?..."_

_Suddenly her glittering silver gown starting to stain black as if the ink of death was slowly being absorbed up the dress she wore and what blanketed him. Her expressions changed to one that holds emptiness in her face, void in her eyes. She spoke, her voice firm with passion gone betrayed, "But no matter the reason, it won't…it just WON'T." Her voice was different this time, it changed like her dress and expressions did. It felt as if this woman, with an iron-grip on the little boy, had switched places with the one who adored him. The innocent little boy jerked his body in his uneasy sleep, his frown deepened still as beads of sweat trickled down his temple as he groaned in the woman's lap. "I won't let it…for the sake of those who fight to vanquish the darkness." She hissed, her voice leaking hatred, venom and malice. Gradually, the blinding light of the sun started to conquer the scenery as the rays intensified in power. Her grip tightened even more, until….._

_Slowly…..ever so slowly….her grip loosened to a hold. Her dress now turned pure white the same way it changed from silver to black. Her expressions softened again, but before anyone could look at her, the sun became too bright and only the dark outline of her figure could be seen. She finally spoke,"But then again…..-"_

_And everything went bright._

A man with the same white hair as the boy came back to reality. Yes, he was dreaming, but not anymore. He panted hard until his frustrations leaked out of his aura. He was but a spirit now. He thought back to the dream and tried to recall every detail, which he did, but couldn't remember the last few minutes when the woman's grip on his arms loosened. It was strange. The harder he thought about it, the further he drifted away from his memories, and the more frustrated he would become. It almost felt like some remote supernatural force was hindering him from remembering the woman in white, which in itself was impossible.

'No matter', he thought to himself as he shook the thought off. He had bigger plans. He jolted, but his body refused to budge. He mentally snarled. He was tired of waiting, he wanted to be free, he wanted to rule. But most of all…he wanted to live.

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_The view was breath-taking. Under the rays of the setting sun, he and his little friend rested against the small pillar beside the running lake driven by the serene breeze. The little boy, although with a peaceful state of mind, was thinking hard on something…something as immature as to mentally pondering over the question as to why the sun wasn't blue, his favored color, instead of orange._

_SPLASH_

_His small hands impulsively retreated back to his adorable little face as he wiped off the excess water. Once the splashing stopped, he looked at the little girl with wet hands looking back at him with liveliness. She always did that when he would think his little brain out. She enthusiastically got up, leaped a few strides, clasped her hands behind her back, twirled her body to face him, and taunted, "Come on! You're not tired already, are you?" she giggled. The little boy frowned defensively and jumped to his feet to chase her. Seeing his advance, she made a run for it, turned and disappeared right around the corner of the clearing and into the thick woods. He stopped on his track and bolted his head from side to side, surprised at her utter disappearance. He kept looking frantically but found no trace of her. _

"_Play with me." Came the sweet, velvet voice._

_He turned around and smiled at her sight before rushing to her side. "Play with me...Play __**with me**__…." Suddenly the voice switched from the sweet feminine voice to the guttural growls of an adult male. The new voice held nothing but malice. He halted in fright and saw that the girl didn't move her lips at the last two words. He searched for the source of the voice only to spot something unusual. Painfully slowly, right behind the little girl a black mist solidified itself to a tangible black figure whose strong arms slithered closer to her and wrapped them around her small, petite body. The figure opened his completely blood-red eyes, whose glow seemed to penetrate his inner soul. A surge of icy chill electrified down his spine as his knees felt weak and finally gave way. He was more worried about his friend in the devil's grasp than himself. All he could muster was, "RUN! RUN AWAY, CHERIBEL!"_

_The girl's smile disappeared as she now looked at his friend with teary eyes shimmering with terror, her lips trembling. She never looked behind her. Does she already know what it was? The demon-like figure tightened his grip on her, but made sure not to hurt her beautiful, fragile skin. The girl, albeit terrified for her life, made no attempt to escape or even budge. It's like she knew she couldn't escape even if she wanted to, and her captor saw and knew this as well. But he held her tight while his eyes kept fixated on the little boy, as if indicating something to him, "This is a dangerous game….a __**very **__dangerous game. __**Bring me the key**__…or the line between nightmares and reality will grow thinner…__**PLAY. WITH. ME**__…"_

_Suddenly, the scenery changed, followed by a momentary blackout. He opened his eyes and looked up at the same sky dyed orange by the setting sun. He surveyed his surrounding and found himself in the same location where he was, only this time he was a grown man. He found himself laid on his back with his head ever so comfortable rested on a warm, cozy lap. He inhaled the familiar fragrance. He jolted his head to the side to see the face of his companion but he could only make out the outline of her face due to the tired sun glaring from the background. He never saw her face, but undoubtedly knew who she was. Some parts were still visible to his eyes, and they were merely the glow that reflected off her eyes, lips, silky hair and flawless skin; but that was enough for him to predict her expressions. She looked down at him with a gentle, mesmerizing gaze as her lips curled slightly into a soft smile. She had one hand entangled in his hair and her other hand was placed securely above his heart. When his mind finally registered everything to his senses, he instantly held her hand that was on his chest and grasped it tightly, fearful that if he'd loosened his grip on her she would disappear at any moment. He looked up pleadingly at her with millions of questions in his eyes. Her affectionate expressions acquired a tiny ting of sadness as if she read his mind. She parted her soft, pink, luscious lips to say something, but closed them only to form a small smile once again. Why was she hesitating? Did she not want to see him after all the years he yearned for her? His train of thoughts disappeared as her next gesture put him at ease and revived his heart. She nodded and leaned down, planting a blissful and meaningful kiss on his forehead, and everything started to go too bright and then suddenly black…._

"Prince Noctis?…..Prince Noctis?!...PRINCE NOCTIS!…."

Noctis slowly opened his eyes, inhaled deeply and sighed in boredom as he came back to so-called reality and waited for his blurry vision to clear. "Oh! That's a big impact." He heard his chauffeur say. "Hmm?" he turned to look through his window and saw three airships hovering over a distant area, "That….looks like it's being conquered." Upon hearing those words, his chauffeur merely chuckled. The Prince has already grown tired of these nasty issues of politics. He turned his head to the entrance and began to think. It's already been many years he had been putting up with these nightmares. At times it wasn't so bad, while others were worse beyond his wildest imagination. But all his nightmares ended with a dream, always so beautiful yet enigmatic. That's the reason he was fond of dozing off even during meetings. Even though he had to face those nightmares, he waited relentlessly to see those dreams, real or not. Speaking of the person in his dreams, he thought back at the party he was about to attend in a few minutes. It was a celebration party held in commemoration of the 'Agreement concerning the Peaceful use of the Crystal' being created between two countries and as the Prince who will soon inherit the title of the King, he had to be there. He saw no significance in holding the party. Why would he? It's already been almost twenty years since the two kingdoms shared the crystal equally. But the truth is, only HIS kingdom had used it at all as it always resided within his territories. The allied kingdom had attended the party for the first two years but didn't even ring a bell for the next eighteen years. They just…disappeared…..literally, though before they went, they said they were safe and they HAD to go. And surprisingly enough, his father, of all the kings of all the kingdoms there were, thought it was okay. It's not that he disapproved of the alliance. No, he's far from disliking them despite the seemingly 'silent-treatment' his kingdom was subjected to. But shouldn't his father delve deeper into their dire situation? What's even stranger was that, that kingdom never actually used or had any crystal to begin with, nor was it interested in having one. But then…..why were they sharing it? There were a lot of things his father kept from him. He last heard of them when he was merely four, and they were the only ally of his isolated kingdom. With all the thoughts going on his head, he hardly noticed the car coming to a halt. While his chauffeur coded in the security combinations, his eyes surveyed the entrance for a commotion or any sign that at least someone from the allied kingdom was there. The guard saluted as they drove forward. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was going to be the same as last year. He looked down in melancholy and moved his gaze over to the view outside as he sighed again. He hated it, he hated everything. With all the burdens he had to bear, all the nightmares he so wanted to discard. But most of all, it was just another worthless party with only the nobles of his country, and without any sight of _her_.

Eyes feel on him and whispers echoes the hall as he entered. Unhindered by his surrounding, Noctis looked up when he saw something from the corner of his eyes. It was a bright streak of light against the night sky, its shine outglowing all the stars combined. It's been a while since the last time he saw it. He ascended the flight of stairs to get a better view, all the while looking at it. Likewise, upon his arrival the nobles stopped chatting with whoever they were talking to, only to look at him and whisper to each other. He ignored them as he always did and started to walk away. He is a bit shy, though he would never accept the fact that he is, and never liked too much attention from strangers. He spotted a seat which seemed to be placed just at the right spot and not many people were around. He continued his way towards it until he heard someone stalking him and spoke out load the last words he'd thought anyone would say to start a polite conversation, "Lord Noctis, can you see the Light?" He stopped on his track. He had to admit he was taken aback, but he was more annoyed than surprised. Personally, it felt like a stranger creeping up behind him and asked out load, "Hey Prince, are you a lunatic?" since not everyone can see it. He turned his head slowly, irritation evident in his face. But it seemed that the woman wasn't the least bit bothered about what his face showed. Either that, or she's just too thick and straight-forward to realize it, or she just came to flirt with him like most women did. He didn't reply. "Me too!" the lady chirped merrily. '_A lunatic_?' he thought to himself. She looked back up, his eyes trailing back to the light, acting as though he didn't know what she was talking about. He looked back at her while she looked bemused over it. What confused him was that this person seemed to like the fact that she can see it, like she's obsessed over it, which in itself was crazy according to him.

The light looked beautiful he couldn't deny, but if he could turned back time, he would prefer not being able to see it at all. He felt disturbingly uncomfortable when the stranger suddenly turned too-high-for-his-liking heels and marched towards him, asking, "Was that what you were looking at from downstairs?". He jolted around with the same speed and started to walk away fast from her while thinking, '_So now she starts to interrogate me. Who the hell is she? Asking about stuff like this without even a formal introduction. Sounds kinda suspicious but I think she's one of those flirty people who don't have anything else to talk about. Why can't people just mind their own business? Urgh…..I have to keep my cool and act proper no matter how uncomfortable and awkward this is, for my kingdom's sake._' "Pretty much. When did you start seeing it?" he started casually while maintaining a safe distance from the approaching figure. "When I was a child." "A near death experience, I presume?" "YES, you too?" "It was pretty bad…" He rolled his eyes as he tried walking off again, but she followed him still. She sounded like she was excited over their conversation, but he didn't want to talk about it. Most thought he was merely shying out from his problems, but that wasn't true. Yes, he could be a bit shy sometimes, but NEVER about this. He simply didn't wish to hear it. He didn't want to remember. It was his own _personal_ business. If only that eager blonde would just realize that the topic bothered him.

And then came the part that he wanted himself to be spared, "The Goddess Etro shall open the gate and welcoming the souls of the dead, when that occurs a bright light shall shine down through the skies over the dead. And those few who can see that light shall be bestowed with strength from the land of the dead. That's the legend. The Tenebrae legend." She looked up at the deity's portrait and _officially_ recited the legend that, as far as he knows, has been taught to _everyone_ in every country since the first day of kindergarten. Annoyed, he slightly snarled when she walked past him, flung an open arm to the side and said as calmly, "We've got the same thing here." She turned to him like a happy-go-lucky girl, obviously happy with her ability to see it, "Lord Noctis, did you receive the power?" she poked into the matter even further to the point he was beginning to get suspicious AND she used that title he has grown tired of, but still kept himself concealed, and swayed his hand in midair, "No. I don't need anything like that. I'm fine as I am." He said, indicating that he'd rather have the power of his precious crystal over the power of the light. He tried to walk past her again, but she ran a few steps to catch up, "I know, right? No matter what kind of power it is, if it's at the cost of somebody's life, I'd have nightmares." Her sad expression disappeared as soon as it came. "Pretty much. A ridiculous bedtime story. You shouldn't talk to other people about the light." "How come?" No doubt she does not know what he does, for it was too obvious to question back. That's why he never liked to talk to people who did not understand him. So he just replied, "Being different from others can lead to a lot of trouble, don't you think?" '_Though I can tell you're more of an attention seeker…_' She looked at him in confusion and disappointment, "But if the legend is just a bedtime story then what do you think the light really is? And why are there some people who can see it and some can't?" Noctis looked up at the light again, '_Isn't it too obvious? Not everyone has a near-death experience. It's either they die or stay alive._' He thought but refused to voice it out as he felt it wasn't worth his effort. He stood up and said in an attempt to end their conversation, "It's just something that's there. Isn't that good enough, umm…." "It's Stella." She said, finally introducing herself. "Stella. I should be going." He faintly smiled, as he asked her to leave him alone as politely as he could. "I'm sorry for taking up your time, Lord Noctis." '_NOW you get it!_,' he thought, before plainly said "Just Noct is fine." He didn't like being formally addressed all the time. He looked down on the ground, waiting for her to leave and clear the path for him to move forward. After sometime, she suddenly remembered something and said, "I have to go too."

He watched her leave and was about to walk his own way to his father before she stopped again and turned around. In the back of her head, she felt that she was unsuccessful in swaying him. She had to go for her final attempt. She looked up at the light and said, "I feel like I've received something from the light tonight. I got a chance to speak to you." Noctis hated these sentimental talks, he didn't believe in myths, legends or destinies. He didn't want the power, it was never his choice to see what he saw. He had no say in the sacrifice that was made for him. The legend was nothing but bullshit if not trouble. This time, he let a little bit of his irritation to surface, "You'll have nightmares." He shrugged. She smiled, not the least bit disturbed of the verbal blow, "You're a mean one aren't you Lord Noctis?" Noctis, although awed by her persistence, kept himself cool and collected even upon hearing that title all over again, '_AGAIN? Doesn't she listen?_' "Noct" he said simply. She smiled and wiggled around flirtatiously, "I'll call you that the next time we meet." As if STILL wanting to stay but had to do something urgent, she spoke again while walking backwards, "You should come to Tenebrae sometime, I'll show you around." He mentally sighed as he grew tired and put his hand on his waist in impatience, and said the same thing he always said when people from other countries invited him to visit, "That sounds interesting. I'll think about it." She finally turned and ran away. '_FINALLY…_' he thought, as he sighed and turned his gaze back up at the light. No matter how much he tried to avert his gaze from it, he always seemed to be allured by it. But this time, he felt something different…._very_ different, which rendered him to be attracted by it. Then he heard it…a voice….a new voice, "Who are you?" He used to hear a sad song often when he saw the light. But this time it was different, the voice was different, and it finally decided to talk for once. He liked this new voice, but didn't like the tone. But what does it matter anyways. A voice won't bring back what he lost and the life he wanted. No divine force would free him from his personal predicaments. If he did, he would've seen the effect long before. Finding her and solving the riddles of his nightmares, he would have to do on his own. He replied in his cold tone which he always used on strangers, "….I was about to ask the same thing to you." He waited for a reply.

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'_Urghhh! Not this…..again…_' Lightning said to herself as she groaned in deep, horrifying pain. It was like she was set ablaze on a raging inferno. She tried to think of something else….anything...to set her mind off the agonizing pain. How long has she been _consciously_ sleeping?...a hundred years…..two hundred?...or even three?! She couldn't recall. All she knew was that she had grown soar of waiting. Death was better than this, and it's not like she would forget her sister no matter how long she lived. But she had to stay like this, it was what her precious goddess Etro asked her to do, and she was willing to stand by her decision blindly. Ironic, wasn't it? There she was, adamant in finishing off all the Fal'Cie she was to confront in Pulse. But she felt different when she came to know of Etro. What's more, when she came over to the goddess's throne, there was a moment when she and Etro literally became one. Her goddess chose her, and granted her all her powers and trusted her with her security and responsibilities. But she failed to protect her, while all the time Etro never stopped in her attempt to save her, even if it meant her death. But why?...why would she go so far to save someone as insignificant as herself. She was never the pious person, but a soldier who mercilessly killed those who stood in her way without a second thought. And now she was paying the price. But those were just some questions. There were _millions_ more and counting even more as the days passed. It's only been recently that she began to experience this burning sensation that stung her very aura. It was as if one moment she was absolutely fine and the next second she was set ablaze. Being what she was now, she wasn't supposed to feel anything especially not pain, but she did…..without a doubt. Perhaps it was because her soul…..her aura…preferred the solitude of Valhalla, while her crystallized body, for the oddest of reason she never bothered to know, was moved elsewhere. It was strange of Odin, who stood guard over her crystal, to move it without her consent. But to her utter astonishment, he did it without the slightest remorse, the slightest hesitation, the slightest of guilt nor the slightest of IDEA that it was her body and he had no right over it. He just DID, like he was predestined, or better yet, preordered by Etro to do it. To where her crystal was taken, she didn't care to know. But now, with the physical, no scratch that, spiritual torment…she'd kill to know where it currently resided and better yet, why.

"Oh Dear Etro, for how long would my prayers go unanswered? When would you set me free from this bewildering sea of chaos?"She knew only silence awaited her, and it did. The outcome was the same ever since she died.

"Odin?" Still no answer.

'_Why….?_' For the first time in her life, she hated being alone, especially with nothing to do. Odin was now her loyal subject if not her loyal friend. Why did he not answer? She reminds herself of the day he replaced her real crystallized body with a fake one made from chaos. She knew only Etro could've made that duplicate, but why did she feel the need to make it in the first place? As he replaced it, Odin had his usual seriousness in his face, but this time, also sadness. It was as if he didn't want to do it, but had his orders. '_He was ordered? By whom_?' Only time would tell since everyone around her seemed to ignore her.

_Pain…searing pain…._

She couldn't take it anymore. "Show me…" she called out, her voice low and hoarse as she gritted her teeth. The pain only intensified, more than it has ever before. "SHOW ME!" She yelled out this time, and for the first time, she opened the gate. To her it felt like a miracle. Her mind immediately filled with wonder upon the sight beyond the gate. The pain soon went unnoticed. Her watchful eyes scanned the world, '_This…isn't Cocoon. It's not even Pulse. Where is this?_' Her mind snapped as she focused back on her main objective. Then she saw it, her crystal. It was set protectively inside a giant castle which had a temple-like exterior outlook. It rested right in the very heart of the castle, just in the centre of the middle floor, just above a throne. The entire castle looked dark from the outside while the hall her crystal was in was caged with light from all directions, focusing all their beam on her. She looked every bit of 'safe' one could think of, although those approaching airships hovering close by didn't look too friendly. '_Never mind that, the point is, my body's perfectly fine. But my soul…why does it hurt inside_?' Her eyes subconsciously looked over the people around, and her thoughts were distracted when her eyes met a particular pair that belonged to a man in black formal attire. She frowned and her eyes grew wide. '_Who is he_?' Lightning could stake her life on it that she never saw him before. She closed her eyes and thought harder. Did she see him at high school? BLANK. Her eyes flew open. She KNOWS she attended highschool, but doesn't remember anything else. The uniform, the premises, the teachers and classmates, nothing….But she remembered Serah, her 21st birthday, her friends who helped her to save Cocoon, and her adventures. She remembered those. She didn't linger much on those thoughts. She was Lightning after all. She turned her attention back to the man. It wasn't like her to ever think about a man, let alone a stranger. The sheer turn of event scared her. Etro won't answer, so she asked herself, "Who are you?"

"…..I was about to ask the same thing to you."

Lightning raised an eyebrow. As much as she'd like to know who he is, her ego took over as she remained stubbornly silent. Her dignity was on the line…no matter how immature the conflict was. But one thing never left her head, how could he hear her? It was impossible for ANY mortal, even if they possessed the power to see her light. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard him, "See you later, whoever you are." She saw him walk his way to someone who looked somewhat like him, but much older. But before he could reach him-

SHATTER

An airship crashed down on the building. With all the chaos and turmoil, she lost track of the man. Something else reached her ears.

"_All is set and ready. Did you acquire the information we need?"_

"_Yes. Without the crystal, they are of no threat."_

"_You did well. And here I thought you would blow our cover by accidentally revealing our origin."_

"_He never suspected a thing."_

"_You deserve a great reward, my love."_

The voices came from a place close by the tower under attack. But she could hear another group of voices.

"_There it is again. This can't go on, we're running out of time."_

"_They are already on the move, and already tracked us down again. If we expose ourselves to them now, they will be in grave danger and so will the crystal."_

"_The seals have started to weaken; it's high time we acted."_

"_He's right. If we don't, not only will they both disappear into the void of merciless torment, but it will be the end for everything."_

"_What do you suggest?"_

Her mind was overwhelmed with the voices of the two groups, but she could never find the source of the second group. Frustrated with the mingling voices, she closed the gate soon after the deceased souls found their way to Valhalla, as she greeted them in the same fashion as Etro did, for it was her atonement. She had a VERY hard time to will the gate to close, which she thought should have been easy for her…so why wasn't it? Even when the gate is closed she could still hear some voices. To whom they belonged to or where were they from, she couldn't tell.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

Lightning, although happy to sense someone close by, turned around with her usual glare. But when she looked at the person standing 10 feet in front of her, her mouth gaped. She was DEFINITELY taken aback, and this time, she hadn't the room to hide it. Right there stood a woman with pink hair similar to her own shade, but with and much thicker and longer hair that reached the ground. The bangs and the upper part of her touchably soft and silky hair were spiky while the lower part of the hair flowed down like the waves of the wildest and most beautiful ocean. She had most of them falling over her left shoulder. Her aqua blue orbs stared softly at the knight and the corner of her pink, naturally-glossy lips slightly curled to a light smirk. Her body was entangled with a fabric partly made of feathers and partly of crystals. She had every ting of 'life' radiating from her aura. Was it Serah? No, she was definitely sure it wasn't. She looked around her own age. The distant mortal conversation made her snap her attention back to it, as she flinched at the name 'Claire'. Who were they? How dare they speak of her real name? Anger pulsated through her soul.

"What's wrong?" Came the enigmatic voice once again.

Lightning, even with all her keen senses at will, didn't even notice the woman walking to her side. She would ignore her had she been anyone else, but she blurted out her thought without an ounce of hesitation, "Who ARE these strangers? How dare they use my-" "I thought your name was Lightning.", serene was her voice. The knight in shining armor opened her mouth to say something in defense, but hesitated, "Yes, but-" "Don't you remember? You discarded the name that your _precious_ parents so graciously gave you and fashioned yourself a new name to forget about them. Oh, forgive me, you didn't change your name, you 'became' this…Lightning. Correct me if I'm wrong." She was awestruck. How did she know? She remained silent as the mysterious woman continued, "You _say_ you did it for your sister. But she was lonely nonetheless, was she not?" Lightning was almost on the verge of tears at the reminder but she couldn't cry. Was she too proud to be strong or too afraid to be weak? "Tell me…'Lightning', where is she now?" The ex-soldier glared up at her, only to be surprised. Although her voice held no evidence, tears trickled down the woman's rosy cheeks. '_What's HER problem?_' she mentally snarled. "She always loved the name 'Claire'…" "DON'T SAY THAT NA-" "You have no right to get stimulated to that name, let alone respond to it. It's not yours…" Lightning's eyes fell down on the shores of Valhalla as she gritted her teeth and frowned like an injured wild animal. The woman was right. No matter how much she wanted to fight back, she couldn't, and there was no one to blame but herself.

"…..it's mine."

Lightning's eyes shot back at her wider than they ever been before. But before she could say anything, the entire world started to go small until all became dark. She couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't see or hear. '_What's happening_?' were her last thoughts.

_Cries of frustration and horror filled the atmosphere._

"_The crystal! IT'S STOLEN!"_

The mysterious woman, by the name 'Claire', closed her eyes in sadness and exhaled painfully upon hearing the mortal cries. She didn't know what would happen to her from then on. If she was going to die, she would die with outmost dignity and a clean fight. Although Lightning didn't deserve any sympathy...especially from her, Claire still pitied her, for the knight will not last long. She exhaled deeply as her aura left Valhalla.

* * *

Post A/N: First off, let me make it clear that the name 'Cheribel' is in no way related to cherries, other fruits, flowers or even the color pink. Nor is it a nickname or a petname. Secondly, you will notice that, in the latest trailer of versus, SE deleted some parts of the conversation between Noctis and Stella. But I still included it for the Stella fans, though you can tell that I'm not much of a fan of noctella. But I wrote the conversation based on the trailers as most noctella part in it got deleted in the latest trailer. But whatever fan you are of, I insist see this through to the very end. And I pretty much made Noct just as he is in the car and in the party exactly as shown in the trailers. And about Lightning, who knows what will happen to her, and who knows who this mysterious woman is. I can tell you this: there are lots of surprises instored for all of them So, what are your guesses? And what are your thoughts on the story so far? Don't forget to review!


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